Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to object tracking, and more specifically, to the efficient use of features in tracking moving objects.
Background of the Invention
Feature-aided tracking attempts to improve tracking performance focusing on improvements to the data association process by incorporating other sensor measurements, or quantities derived from other measurements, in addition to the usual kinematic measurements. Features can be continuous quantities such as radar cross section (RCS), length of target, and intensity, or discrete, categorical values, often referred to as attributes. Examples of attribute data include an Identification: Friend or Foe (IFF) ID, a number of engines, or a target type. In practice, we distinguish attributes from features because the techniques used to include such data in tracking calculations are somewhat different, but for the purpose of simplicity, herein the term “feature” to describe any data used in the tracking analysis other than kinematic data such as position and velocity. If multiple targets have similar kinematic measurements, a tracker using only kinematic measurements has trouble distinguishing the targets. The addition of other feature measurements may enhance the data association process and lead to the successful tracking of the closely spaced targets.